Paid paternity leave: what dads get, by employer and by state

Is paternity leave paid in the US?

Not by federal law. Paid paternity leave in the US comes from 1 of 3 places: his employer's policy, a state insurance program, or his own banked PTO.

The federal law most dads have heard of is the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Labor Department's own fact sheet says FMLA leave "may be unpaid or used at the same time as employer-provided paid leave." The law guarantees the time. It says nothing about the money.

The word "paternity" does a lot of lifting in that search box. Legally, almost nothing a dad gets is called paternity leave. Federal law calls it leave for "the birth of a child." State programs call it bonding leave, family leave or parental leave. Same 12 weeks, 4 names, and none of them tells you whether a direct deposit hits on Friday.

1 group of dads does get a federal paycheck for it: federal employees. OPM's rules give a federal worker with a qualifying birth up to 12 administrative workweeks of paid parental leave, used in place of unpaid FMLA leave.

Does FMLA cover paternity leave, and is it paid?

Yes. The birth of a child is the first reason on the Labor Department's list, and it applies to dads the same as moms. The catch is the eligibility test, and it knocks out more dads than people expect.

His employer has to be covered. For a private company that means 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks this calendar year or last year. Public agencies and schools are covered at any size.

Then he has to be eligible himself. All 3 of these, per the Labor Department:

• At least 12 months working for that employer.
• At least 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months before the leave starts. Spread over 52 weeks, that is about 24 hours a week.
• A work location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.

A dad who switched jobs 8 months before the due date fails the first test. A dad at a 30 person shop fails the third. Neither one has a federal right to the leave at all, paid or unpaid.

For the dads who pass, FMLA does 1 more thing: the employer has to keep his group health coverage going on the same terms as if he were at work. That is not pay, but it means the family plan stays on during the weeks the paycheck stops. Group life insurance through work is a separate question, and the birth itself opens a window on it, which we cover in life insurance for new parents.

How long is paternity leave in the US?

The federal ceiling is 12 workweeks in a 12-month period under FMLA, for a dad who passes the eligibility test above. That is the length of the job protection, not the length of any paycheck.

Federal employees get the closest thing to a national paid version: up to 12 administrative workweeks of paid parental leave, per OPM, used in place of unpaid FMLA leave.

State programs pay for 8 to 12 weeks of bonding leave. California and Rhode Island pay up to 8 weeks. The other 10 states and DC pay up to 12. Maryland's program will pay up to 12 weeks once benefits start.

The voluntary state plans in Vermont and New Hampshire are shorter. Vermont's pays for up to 6 weeks, and only for workers whose coverage was bought.

What percent of employers offer paid paternity leave?

The cleanest federal number is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March 2023, 27% of private industry workers had access to paid family leave through their employer. In 2018 it was 16%. In 2010 it was 10%.

So the share almost tripled in 13 years. It still means roughly 1 in 4 private sector dads walks into the hospital with a paid leave policy behind him. The other 3 are doing PTO math on a napkin in the cafeteria at 2am.

Unpaid leave is close to universal by comparison. In March 2026, 91% of private industry workers had access to unpaid family leave, per the same survey.

A note on the date. 2023 is the last year BLS published that standalone paid family leave series. Its March 2026 release reports a broader measure, paid family and medical leave combined, at 49% of private industry workers. That counts more kinds of leave and does not line up with the older series. We use the 2023 number for paid family leave because it measures the thing this article is about.

Employers have a new reason to revisit their policy in 2026. The IRS said in August 2026 that, beginning in 2026, more employers offering qualifying paid family and medical leave can claim a tax credit of 12.5% to 25% of the wages they pay during that leave, for up to 12 weeks a year. That credit goes to the company, not the dad. It is still the kind of thing HR reads.

Which states have paid paternity leave in 2026?

12 states plus DC run programs paying bonding benefits in 2026. Minnesota's agency spells out how this works for dads: bonding leave is available to birthing and non-birthing parents, and each parent can take up to 12 weeks, at the same time or at different times.

These programs pay out of a state insurance fund, mostly built from payroll contributions. The benefit is a percentage of his usual weekly pay, up to a weekly cap. Here is what each state agency publishes for 2026.

3 of these programs are new enough that a 2026 baby is among the first they pay for. Delaware opened claims in January 2026. Minnesota pays for leave taken on or after Jan 1, 2026. Maine pays for time out of work on or after May 1, 2026. DC, paying since 2020, cut its weekly cap from $1,190 to $1,100 as of Oct 1, 2026. Parental leave stays at 12 weeks.

A few details move the money more than the headline rate does:

• Mid-year caps. Oregon's higher cap applies to benefit years starting on or after Jun 28, 2026. A claim that started before that keeps the 2025 cap of $1,636.56 for the whole benefit year. Colorado's cap rose from $1,381.45 to $1,448.02 on Jul 1, 2026.
• Dependents. Rhode Island adds a dependents' allowance. With the maximum 5 dependents, its cap is $1,552 a week.
• Waiting weeks. Washington has an unpaid waiting week for some claims, but its agency says bonding leave does not have one.
• Eligibility rules. Delaware requires at least 1 year with the employer and 1,250 hours worked with a single employer. Maine holds his job only after 120 consecutive days with the employer.

If his state is not in either table, any pay during his leave comes from his employer, his own PTO, or a private plan. That puts the whole question back on the employer policy from the section above.

Vermont runs a voluntary state plan that pays 60% of wages for up to 6 weeks, including for the birth of a child, and New Hampshire runs a voluntary state plan too. Both pay only if his employer or he bought the coverage.

How much is paternity leave paid, by state?

The percentages in the table hide the part that matters to a dad near the cap. We ran 1 dad through 6 state formulas: $75,000 a year, 12 weeks of bonding leave, starting after Jul 1, 2026 so every 2026 cap applies.

His regular weekly pay is $1,442. With no paid program at all, 12 weeks of FMLA leave costs him $17,304 in gross pay. Here is what each state hands back.

New Jersey looks like 85% on paper. At $75,000 it pays 78%, because 85% of his pay is $1,226 and the cap stops it at $1,119. Delaware's 80% turns into 62% the same way.

That is the pattern in every row. The rate decides the benefit for lower earners. The cap decides it for everyone above it. A dad at $100,000 in Delaware still gets $900 a week, while his regular pay is $1,923.

We left 7 programs out of this table on purpose. California pays by income band, and Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Rhode Island and DC each tie the formula to a state wage figure or a base-period rule we could not confirm for 2026 from the agency. Maine's 2026 cap is not published as a single figure we could confirm. Except Maine, their caps in the first table are confirmed. Their exact benefit at $75,000 is not, so we did not print one.

1 more thing that moves a row: waiting weeks. Massachusetts says that in most cases there is a 7 calendar day waiting period before payments begin, and those days count against his leave for the year. That is why its row pays 11 weeks, not 12. Washington skips its waiting week for bonding leave. The other rows assume pay from day 1.

How much does a week of unpaid paternity leave cost?

For a dad with no paid program and no PTO left, the cost of a week off is a straight line: salary divided by 52. Here it is at 3 salaries, before taxes.

Those are gross numbers, so the hit to take-home pay is smaller once taxes come out. It is still a real hole, and it lands in the same 3 months as the hospital bill.

The hole also has a hard stop. Leave ends, and the next recurring bill is child care. We priced that state by state in what infant daycare costs per month, because the leave gap and the daycare bill tend to land in the same year. The dependent care FSA limit for 2026 is the tax lever on that second bill.

The cheapest dollar of the leave gap is the one never spent before it starts. Our baby registry breakdown lists what to skip. At $75,000, 1 unpaid workday costs $288, so every $288 not spent on gear covers 1 more day home.

Is paid family leave taxable?

At the federal level, yes. In Rev. Rul. 2025-4, the IRS said family leave benefits a state pays out are included in the worker's federal gross income. They are not wages for federal employment tax purposes. The state reports them to him and to the IRS on a Form 1099.

Bonding with a new child counts as family leave in these programs, not medical leave. That matters because the IRS treats medical leave for his own health differently: the part tied to his own contributions is excluded from income. A dad on bonding leave does not get that exclusion.

The ruling applies to payments made on or after Jan 1, 2025. The IRS gave states a reporting and withholding transition, extended through 2026 by Notice 2026-6, but it covers only the employer-funded part of medical leave benefits. It does not change anything for bonding pay, which is federal taxable income either way.

1 piece runs the other way. The ruling says the contributions withheld from his paycheck for a state program count as state income tax. He can deduct them under the state and local tax deduction, but only if he itemizes, and only inside the SALT limit.

State income tax is the contested part, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The IRS ruling covers federal tax only. Whether his own state taxes the benefit is set by that state, and the answer differs from state to state. The state's revenue department is the source for that line, not this page.

Frequently asked questions

Do dads get paid paternity leave in the US?

Only if an employer policy or a state program pays it. Federal law, through FMLA, guarantees eligible dads 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. In March 2023, 27% of private industry workers had paid family leave from their employer, per BLS.

Can my employer make me use PTO during paternity leave?

Under FMLA, yes. The federal rule (29 CFR 825.207) lets him choose to swap in accrued paid leave, and if he does not, the employer may require it, so the PTO runs at the same time as the 12 weeks. Some state programs bar this: Minnesota says an employer cannot require PTO before its Paid Leave.

Do unmarried fathers qualify for FMLA leave?

Yes. For birth leave, the FMLA rules (29 CFR 825.122) define a son or daughter as a biological, adopted or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis. Marriage is not part of that definition.

Can my employer deny paternity leave?

A covered employer cannot deny FMLA leave for a birth to an eligible employee. A dad with under 12 months on the job, under 1,250 hours, or at a worksite with fewer than 50 company employees within 75 miles is not eligible. A private employer with fewer than 50 employees is not covered at all.

Does paternity leave have to be taken all at once?

Not always. Under federal FMLA it is the employer's choice whether to allow intermittent leave for bonding. Some state programs allow it on their own terms. Maine's law lets leave be taken intermittently in blocks of at least 1 workday, unless he and his employer agree to a smaller increment.

Can both parents take paid family leave at the same time?

In Minnesota, yes: each parent can take up to 12 weeks of bonding leave, at the same time or at different times. Other states set their own rules, so the state agency page is the place to confirm it.

How much is California paid family leave in 2026?

California pays about 70% to 90% of wages, depending on income, up to $1,765 a week, for up to 8 weeks of bonding leave in a 12-month period.

When does Maryland paid family leave start?

Contributions start Jan 1, 2027. Benefits start in January 2028, per the Maryland Department of Labor (the law allows any date from Jan 1, 2027 to Jan 3, 2028). The program pays up to $1,000 a week, indexed to inflation, for up to 12 weeks. Maryland executive branch state employees already have paid family leave under a separate program that started Jul 1, 2026.

Rules current as of Oct 2026: FMLA 12 unpaid workweeks, 27% private sector paid family leave access (BLS, March 2023), 12 states plus DC paying bonding benefits, weekly caps from $900 (Delaware) to $1,765 (California), Maryland contributions from Jan 1, 2027. Caps reset every year and some reset mid-year, so check the date on this line before you lean on it.

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